Republican Extortion/Fundraiser at the Governor's Tax-Payer Provided Home

Let's have a conversation about extortion and using your public housing for political purposes.

Apparently, Republicans have gotten over their problem with the so-call "bunker" built by Governor Bredesen. I say "apparently" because they are using it to extort an ungodly amount of money from Nashville lobbyist.

You'll note in the story linked above that Rep. Maggart and Speaker Harwell are both included in the Gang of 5 legislators who asked for the bunker construction to stop. Now, it appears the shoe is on the other foot and they are more than happy to use this tax-payer owned space to ask for unheard of amounts of money for their campaigns.

For those not familiar with legislative fundraising, $50,000 is an unheard of amount to request at a fundraiser. In the past $20,000 has been a HIGH end ask, with most contibutions ranging from $1,000-$10,000. This clearly shows the unfathomable hubris of the Tennessee Republican Party.

This is the kind of thing that can unite us as Democrats. While Tennessee Republicans are focused on pimping out their offices for campaign cash, Tennessee Democrats announced a statewide tour focused on creating jobs. Enjoy the actual e-mail from Rep. Maggart below. And feel free to RSVP should you feel so inclinded, I've already got my $50,000 space reserved.

______________________________________________________________________________



From: Rep. Debra Maggart [mailto:votedebramaggart@gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, September 02, 2011 12:55 PM
To: Debra Maggart
Subject: Tennessee Republican Caucus Event

Thanks for your continued support for the Tennessee Republican Caucus. We wanted you to be among the first to know the details for the October 3 fundraiser. Invitations will go out within the week. Maintaining our Majority will take a lot of work, and your support is critical to our efforts. Thank you to those of you have already committed to the sponsorship levels.

 The Inaugural Tennessee

 Republican Legislative Ball

To Celebrate Tennessee

Honoring Betty & Governor Winfield Dunn,

The Senate Republican Caucus

and the House Republican Caucus

With Special Musical Guests

Monday, October 3, 2011

The Executive Residence

Nashville, Tennessee

Parking, check-in and shuttle service will be available from Judson Baptist Church

Cocktail Attire

To RSVP please contact Rachel Barrett or Cari Johns at 615-564-2642 or TennesseeRepublicanCaucus@gmail.com 

Schedule

3:00 pm               Check-in Opens at Judson Baptist Church

4:00-5:00 pm       Sponsor Reception

5:00-7:00 pm       General Reception, or the “Taste of Tennessee Ball”

7:00-9:00 pm       Chair Dinner which will be upstairs in the Executive Residence dining room hosted by the First Lady, Governor Haslam and Caucus Leadership

Our Sponsorship Opportunities:

Suggested Levels of Support/SponsorshipsBenefits

$50,000: Event Chair

-5 tickets to Event Chair Dinner, 10 tickets to Sponsor Reception, 10 tickets to Taste of Tennessee,  recognition at event

$25,000: Event Sponsor

-5 tickets to Sponsor Reception, 10 tickets to Taste of Tennessee, recognition at event

$10,000: Event Host

-2 tickets to Sponsor Reception, 5 tickets to Taste of Tennessee

$2,500: Attendee or couple

-Ticket(s) to Taste of Tennessee

Thank you for helping us celebrate Tennessee and our new Majority. 

Sincerely, 
Bill Ketron                                         Debra Maggart
CaucusChairman                               Caucus Chairman
Tennessee State Senate                      Tennessee State House 

Staying Focused, Making an Impact

Let’s have a conversation today about staying focused.

In a former position, I worked for someone fond of saying that we basically have two choices in life. We can focus on a lot of things and do them with mediocre results or we can focus on a few things and do them really well. I have always been a proponent of the latter.

As progressives, we can’t get distracted by what I like to call shiny issues. Shiny issues are a lot like shiny objects in that both serve as distractions from the real goal. Take for instance the Wisconsin recall elections. No Democrat would disagree that what Governor Walker did in Wisconsin is a tragedy of the first degree. And no one would disagree that these Senators need to be sent into retirement. However, how much time, effort and money did this take from Democrats across the country-including in Tennessee-that could have been better spent advocating progressive causes in their own state? How much time did we spend as Tennessee Democrats discussing this, when we could have been talking about a strategy for the next legislative session?

My point is this: we had a myriad of horrible, terrible, no-good legislation come out of the Tennessee General Assembly this session. We limited people’s access to the court, completely ripped apart teaching as a profession, tore the already weak organized labor groups down to bare bones, dictated reproductive health to women, overruled local governments, made ‘gay’ a swear word, set science curriculums back to the dark ages and put public schools on the path to bankruptcy all while managing to completely ignore the 10% unemployment rate in Tennessee. We have enough crap to deal with from here to kingdom come without ever looking for issues elsewhere.

Let’s face facts. Barack Obama isn’t going to win in Tennessee. We are not going to beat Bob Corker in 2012. We have ZERO say in redistricting. So as Tennessee Democrats, let’s get focused on things we CAN do. Instead of spending time phone banking for the President, let’s phone bank for someone in House District 40 where James Hale almost beat Rep. Weaver in 2010. Instead of sending $5 to fight Prop 8 in California, send $5 to the Maury County Democratic Party to help send the bigoted Rep. Butt back to Columbia.  Instead of focusing on national issues and campaigns, follow the lead of groups like the National Firefighters Union and get involved on a local level where we can actually have an impact.

I say this from place of love and, as my minister says, I am as guilty as anyone of doing what I am advocating against, but we have got to get focused as Tennessee Democrats. I love the President. I hope Elizabeth Warren wins the Senate seat in Massachusetts. I hope Scott Walker gets recalled, we win the special election in New York and Prop 8 gets overturned in California. But right now, I’m more concerned about Republicans screwing up the HOPE scholarship for my sister. I am more concerned that my cousin-a first year teacher-won’t have basic classroom supplies she needs to be effective. I am more concerned that members of the General Assembly think a sexual orientation is a swear word, that any jobs bill from a Democrat is socialism and that we should really go back to the days before that disastrous Scopes Trial. These are issues that affect my daily life as a Tennessean. These are issues where I can have a real impact.

Over the next weeks, I am going to begin talking about issues that we can affect as Tennessee Democrats. I too love a good fight at the national level. I support many progressive causes that are going on around the country, but right now I want us to examine what is really going on in Tennessee and how we can make a difference. The issues won’t always be sexy, but they will be substantive.

Let the conversation continue.